So Much More
by XAllTheGoodUsernamesAreTakenxX
Summary: Zane has always been a softy when it comes to Cleo but his feelings slowly start changing from platonic to so much more. A Cleo and Zane fanfiction.
1. Episode 1

**So first off, I'm going to start with an author's note even though I hate when people do that. To be fair, I really think that this deserves one. So I started this a few years ago as a one shot that then turned into a two chapter story that then turned into this. This story is going to start from the very beginning and work its way to the Lovesick Episode story and further on. This story will start off with just Cleo and Zane scenes, everything else will be the same. As the story goes on there will be a couple of things that are different from the show but I want to keep it as canon as possible. **

**Also I don't own any rights to H20.**

**First season, first episode. Starts off on the dock with Zane and Cleo.**

Zane has been tinkering with his boat all day long trying to get it to start. _It's the spark plug. Someone must have stolen my spark plug. _Zane was so annoyed when he realized the reason why his boat wouldn't start.

"My dad is going to kill me", Zane muttered to himself. _I promised him I wouldn't be late this time. _He runs his hands over his face, then from the corner of his eye he sees someone walking by. _Perfect timing. _He notices that it's a girl but not just any girl its Cleo, the perfect person to mess with. Cleo was so naive, he almost felt bad about taking his anger out on her. Almost.

"Cleo!" he shouts at her, trying to get her attention. "Hey, Cleo!" He calls out to her and she starts looking around as if she couldn't believe that he was addressing her.

"Yes, that Cleo." He can't help but smile a little bit.

"I'm in some trouble here," he tries to look helpless in an attempt to get some pity from Cleo so he can lure her into his trap. "Can you help?"

_Of course, I already know that she is going to give in and say yes. Cleo is way too nice, one day someone is going to take advantage of her._

"Um, I don't think so," Cleo says immediately. _Come on, I'm not that stupid Zane! I'm not falling for that one. How stupid does he think I am._

"Come on." Zane licks his lips. _Damn, I really thought she was going to say yes. _Zane smiles, _time to bring out the big guns then. _

"Please. My zodiac won't go and all I need you to do is hand me the tools." _There I said please, there is no way she can say no now. _

Cleo can't help but let a small smile slip through. _Wow, the rich and powerful Zane said please and to me of all_ _people. He must really be desperate. Ughhhh, fine Zane wins, curse my kind heart. _Cleo rolls her eyes and starts walking toward Zane and his boat.

"I'm not good with boats," she lets him now in what she hopes is a calm voice because the truth was she was a little skeptical to help. _I really hope that this isn't another one of his awful pranks. _

"You'll be fine," Zane a little quietly, he can't help but feel just a tiny bit bad. _Why would she agree to help me if she isn't good with boats. God, Cleo, why do you have to be so nice? You are making this whole thing a lot harder. "You know," _a little voice in the back of his head says, "_You could always not go through with it" Shut up, stupid conscience. _He bends down getting ready to untie the boat.

"Took me a while to realize that someone stole my spark plug," a little longer than he would like to admit to anyone, especially someone like Cleo.

"So does it work without one?" Cleo asks. She starts grabbing the first tool she sees in the tool box. _This one looks like it can do something. _Cleo was so busy trying to not look stupid in front of Zane that she didn't even notice what he was doing until he pushed the boat away from the dock.

"No," he tells her. _This isn't really making me feel better, _he thinks. It's too late now, might as well enjoy the show. "No spark plug, no spark. I was getting sick of that thing anyway."

_I knew it. _Cleo couldn't but feel a bit hurt, she really did think he was being sincere this time.

"Why me?"_Maybe he thinks I took the plug? _"I didn't steal your spark plug," she tells in a desperate attempt to get him or his stupid friend to help her. _No way, I can't go off to sea on a boat with no spark plug. How am I going to get back to shore? It's not like I can swim there. _

"Because you're here, Cleo." _Duh. Oh come on Cleo, don't look at me like that, you just had to help me didn't you? It's not like I can change my mind, especially now that Nate is here_. _If I help her now, he would call me a wuss for days. I feel really bad though… I got it!_

"My dad will buy me another boat anyway. I tell you what, if you get it going, you can keep it." _There, I played a completely harmful prank on Cleo and in return she gets my practically new Zodiac. It seems like a fair trade to me._

"This isn't funny," Cleo yells out to Zane. _Why would he do this to me? He knows that I can't swim, he has to remember that I can't swim. It's a pretty important, hard to forget detail about me. _

"Are you kidding? Works for me, right mate?" Zane laughs and looks at Nate. _Why is she so freaked out? It's not like she can't swim back to the docks. The worst that can happen is she gets a small cold from swimming in cold water. _

_Of course he forgot that I can't swim, _Cleo thinks as she remembers what a self-absorbed jerk Zane is. Cleo starts panicking a little as she looks around and realizes that the docks are too far away for her to jump. _Come on, Cleo think. I can always ask Zane to help but right now, I would rather die at sea. _Cleo can feel herself panicking even more the longer she's on the boat. _I'm getting further away, screw it. I don't want to die at sea._

"Zane!" Cleo yells out to him hoping that he somehow remembers that she can't swim.

"Looks like you'll have to swim for it, Cleo." Zane yells back.

_Idiot! I hate him, _Cleo thinks as she sits down and looks around. _There is nothing I can do now._

"This isn't happening," she says shaking her head. _If he doesn't remember that I can't swim, I'm not going to remind him. He'll only make fun of me. _

Just as Cleo was finally starting to lose hope that she could find a way out of this, some crazy blonde girl jumped in front of her.

"Ahhh!" Cleo yells out. _She's going to throw me off the boat and keep it for herself, and I'm going to drown and die alone. Or maybe she's here to help, _the more reasonable side of Cleo thought, _but how is she going to help me? _

The blonde girl gives Cleo the most disgusted look after hearing her girly scream. Cleo stands up quickly once she sees the blonde move around on the boat. _Great, I bet she jumped on thinking all she needs to do is turn on the boat and we are good to go._

"Is this suppose to be some sort of rescue?" Cleo asks a bit annoyed. " Because there is a fatal flaw here. I don't meant to state the obvious, but we're just floating out to sea. Both of us." _I bet she can swim though. _Then, the blonde smiles and lifts her hand up. Now, Cleo is no genius but even she knows that it's the missing spark plug that got her into this whole mess to begin with.

"You took that," Cleo said. She couldn't help but get mad at this girl. _Who even is this girl? Why didn't she say something earlier when Zane tricked me. _The blonde walks over to the area where the spark plug belongs.

"Zane Bennett's a pig," the blonde girl, looking up. It's then that Cleo realizes that Zane was following her. _What is he doing? Why is he following? Maybe he wants to see me drown and die a slow and painful death for something that I didn't even do._

Zane didn't even realize that he was following Cleo. He was beginning to get a little worried when he saw that the boat was only getting further away and Cleo still hadn't jumped off. _Cleo, what are you doing? I get it, I feel really bad now, so you can jump off and swim back. _

"Anything I can do to get under his skin can't be a bad thing, can it?" The blonde girl says as she looks up at Cleo.

_Wait, a minute. I know this girl. She's that new girl that moved here not that long ago. I always wanted to talk to her but she kinda scares me. _

"Cool, thanks, Rikki," Cleo tells her. _Maybe now we can actually become friends. _

"You know my name," Rikki ask/states, looking her up and down suspiciously.

"Yeah, well, I've seen you around school since you arrived." Once Cleo says that out loud, she realizes how rude that actually sounds.

"Oh I mean, I've meant to say hello and everything." _It's just that I was waiting for a moment where you didn't look so angry, but that moment never came, _Cleo thinks knowing that she can't say that to her face. _Great, she'll never want to be my friend now. _By now, Rikki, has put the spark plug back to its original place and started up the Zodiac.

"Hold on," she tells Cleo.

Zane is still following getting even more worried, until he hears the sound of a motor. He lets out the tiniest smile ever when he sees the Zodiac running. _No way, maybe Cleo isn't as innocent and helpless as I thought._

_This is so cool! _Cleo can't help but think, as she looks over at Rikki and smiles. _Does this mean that I can keep the boat. I mean, technically I didn't get it started but I supervised...sort of. _

"Cool, you got it started again," Cleo tells Rikki, "Do you mind if I take over for a bit, I want to get under Zane's skin too."

"Sure, just whatever you do, make it real good," Rikki tells Cleo as she moves over to let her steer.

Cleo smiles deviously as she quickly yanks the wheel to the side, completely spraying Zane with water from head to toe.

"Agh," Zane yells as he quickly tries to cover himself but it's no use. He couldn't help but feel a bit shocked. _Was that Cleo steering? It sure looked like it. _Zane looked over at his friend who was laughing at him.

"Did Cleo just spray me with water?" Zane asks, still in shock.

"Yeah, mate, that was definitely Cleo at the wheel" Nate tells him.

_Will you look at that, _Zane thinks to himself. _Maybe Cleo isn't helpless after all. _

**Later in the day**

Zane was out on his motorcycle, aimlessly driving around. He didn't want to go back home anytime soon. His father ripped him a new one when the water police told him that they found his zodiac out on Mako Island with three missing girls. _I can't believe that he thinks I'm really that stupid. I wouldn't just give a girl the zodiac, no matter how cute she is. Not that I'm saying Cleo is cute or anything. I did give her the zodiac though, and she is kinda cute, but not cute enough to get in trouble with my dad. _

While driving his motorcycle he notices Cleo and Lewis walking. _Lewis! What the hell is Cleo doing hanging around with that loser? She has to know that he has a monster crush on her and will do anything to get on her good side. _Zane wonders what it's like to be Lewis, _I mean, the guy has no backbone when it comes to Cleo. I'll mess with him a little, just to make him look bad in front of Cleo. _Zane pulls up in front of them.

"Oh no," Cleo says. _He probably thinks that I stole his spark plug. I told him it wasn't me though! Oh no, poor Lewis is going to get dragged into my mess. _

Zane flips his face shield in what he hopes is an intimidating way.

"Just ignore him," Zane hears Lewis tell Cleo. _So, he's trying to act like the tough guy in front of Cleo. _

"Let's go back," Cleo says grabbing Lewis' arm. _If Zane gets a hold of Lewis, he'll kill him for sure. _

Zane smiles, _Leave it to Cleo to try and protect Lewis, instead of the other way around. What a wuss. _He sees that Cleo has a hold off Lewis' arm and before he knew it, he was driving between the two, forcing them apart.

Zane didn't know why but something about that guy made him angry. Maybe it was because he was such a loser. If he didn't hang around Cleo so much, then Cleo would have been a lot more popular. Zane and Cleo might have even been...friends.

_Can you imagine if I had sat down next to Cleo that day in class instead of Lewis? Maybe it'd be my arm she'd be grabbing like that, she might have even become my girlfri-_

Zane quickly stops that train of that, even if Cleo wasn't friend with Lewis, he would never date her. She might have been cool enough to hang out with him but not cool enough to date. Zane knows that if Cleo were actually his friend she would probably go out with someone like Nate. Even though Cleo was considered a loser, a lot of his friends thought that she was really cute. It's why Miriam hated her so much because she knows that in another world, Cleo would be the one calling the shots.

Zane takes off his helmet and gets off his bike. He turns to look at Cleo to see if she was okay. Zane has decided that he is just going to apologize for what he did to her yesterday and for almost killing her just now. He notices that Cleo is now clinging to Lewis. He starts getting angry. Angry at Cleo, angry at Lewis, but mostly angry at himself. _Here I am, ready to apologize to her and she's acting like I'm a monster. You know what, _Zane thinks, _Screw apologizing. If she's going to act like that then she's not even worth apologizing to. _

"Nervous," he tells her, pointing out to Cleo the way she's clinging to Lewis.

_I didn't even notice how close I was to Lewis. Zane probably thinks that I like him now. What do I care what he thinks anyway, he's been such a jerk to me these past couple of days. Usually he's only like that when his stupid friends are around. He always apologizes to me afterward though. That's it! I'm so stupid, he's here to apologize. Right? _

"What do you want Zane?" She says in a defensive tone. _Even if he is here to apologize he did almost killed me with his stupid bike._

"My father didn't appreciate having the water police knock on his door." Zane tells her hoping that she might feel a little guilty about how much trouble he got into because of her. He noticed that she backed away from Lewis just a tiny bit.

"Well, you shouldn't have told me to keep the zodiac," Cleo says. _I can't believe this guy, is he trying to make me feel bad. He's the one that pushed me out to sea. I asked him to help and he ignored me. He better have a damn good apology because I'm getting so mad right now. _

"I don't like people making me look bad, Cleo," Zane tells her as he slowly starts walking towards them, "Especially chicks like you." _And especially in front of my father. _

"In front of your dad you mean, Zane," Lewis says the thing that everyone was thinking of, "Sounds like your scared of him."

_I am definitely not apologizing to Cleo, at least not in front of this loser. _Zane feels himself getting even more mad.

"You think you're better than me, Lewis," Zane says, "Is that it?"

"Almost everyone is better than you, live with it," Lewis tells Zane.

_When did Lewis become such a hot shot? _Zane thought. Is Cleo really worth getting his ass kicked? Because that's exactly what he was going to do to Lewis.

Cleo, at this point, wasn't even paying attention anymore. She was distracted by the fire hydrant that was next to her. She was getting really angry at Zane.

_Why couldn't he apologize, I mean he has apologized to me for a lot less. I could have died if Rikki hadn't jumped in. Not only that but I wouldn't be stuck in this "mermaid" mess to begin with. And what's up with that fire hydrant? _The angrier Cleo got the more she wished that Zane would get sprayed with water from the fire hydrant.

_This is weird, _she thinks. _It's almost like I can feel the water trying to come out, but that's impossible. No, I CAN feel it! It's almost like my hand is a magnet and the water is trying to get closer to me. I wonder if this has anything to do with the whole turning into a fish thing. _

Zane looks over Cleo and sees that she looks really angry.

_Oh no, I've really done it this time. You know what I'm just going to swallow my pride and apologize to her like a man, I don't care if Lewis thinks I'm a loser. I'm Zane Bennett nothing I do is lame. _

Zane starts walking up to Cleo so he can properly apologize to her. Before he reaches her though, Lewis jumps in front of her.

_Who the hell does this guy think he is. I can kick his ass twenty different ways without even trying. Does he think that I'm going to hurt Cleo, _Zane thinks as he looks over to Cleo.

Zane never takes his eyes off of Cleo because really she's the only one that matters right now. _I'm here to apologize to her, she's gotta know that I can't possibly hurt her. _Zane waits for Cleo to defend him and tell Lewis that Zane would never hurt her but she doesn't. Instead she looks away from Zane. Zane took that as a sign that maybe she really was scared of him. _Crap, come on, Zane, say something to lighten up the mood. _

"Got yourself a protector, have you, Cleo?" Zane says trying to get her attention.

_That might not have been the best approach. As much as I hate Lewis, he is her best friend. Well, at least she's looking at me now, but if anything she's looks angrier. _

Cleo starts concentrating even more on the fire hydrant. She knows that she is the one moving the water in there, she can feel it moving in her hand. Worst case scenario is that she had some bad fish last night and she ends up making a fool in front of Zane. _I do that at least once a day, so that won't be so bad. If I'm right though.._

Zane is still waiting for Cleo to say something to him. _Is she just going to cower behind Lewis the whole time? Where is the strong Cleo that sprayed me with water yesterday. She can't spend her whole life trying to be nice and avoid all confrontation. What if Lewis wasn't here, _Zane thinks, _what if I was someone else, someone who actually wanted to hurt her? What would she do then? _

"You know, Cleo, one of these days something really bad, might happen to you, with or without Lewis-" Zane doesn't get a chance to finish what he was about to say because suddenly the fire hydrant exploded and he was being sprayed with water.

"Ahhh!" he yells as the force of the water pushes him all the way to the beach.

Cleo stares at Zane in shock. _That was not what I meant to do, I didn't want to hurt I just wanted to get him a little wet. Crap, how do I turn it off? Maybe if I move my hand the other way I can push it down. There, that's better...Is it though? I can't deal with this right now. _

Cleo turns around and starts running away. _I've gotta find Emma and Rikki. _

As Cleo heads over to Emma's house, she can't help but think about the look on Zane's face when the hydrant exploded. _If only they had been there, we could laugh about it together for days. I feel a bit bad though, I think Zane was about to apologize. If he had, then that would have been the first time he did it in front of another person. Sorry, Zane, I have to sort my freaky mermaid power thing first. _


	2. Episode 2 and 3

**Episode Two and Three: Starts off at the Juicenet Cafe with Cleo and Lewis**

"Lewis, what do you think of Rikki?" Cleo asked.

Lewis looked off in the distance as he thought of the best description for Rikki.

"You know those stonefish that kind of look like a rock?" They could shoot enough poison to kill an entire football team in half a second. She kind of reminds me of one of those," he trailed off as he realized how accurate that comparison was.

_Yeah, that does sound like Rikki alright, _Cleo thought, _she blends into her surroundings and if someone starts to get too close she attacks. Kinda like she did this morning._

Suddenly everyone in the cafe started clapping as Byron walked into the place. Cleo got up to congratulate him on his big win.

"Thanks guys, relax," Byron told everyone in the cafe with a huge smile on his face.

"Congratulations, Byron." Cleo said to Byron unaware that Zane was standing right next to him.

_She went straight to Byron, of course she did, she's probably still mad about what happened the other day. Still, it's kinda rude to completely ignore someone standing less than two feet away from you. She's practically throwing herself at Byron, hounding him, question after question._

"Control yourself," Zane scoffs at her, forcing everyone's attention towards him.

"Hey, Zane," Lewis says as a weak attempt to stand up for Cleo, "You're dry, that must feel different," he points to Zane.

Zane walks over to Lewis, he could feel himself getting angry just by looking at him.

_There he goes again trying to be a hero. What an idiot. I wouldn't even be in this mess with Cleo if it wasn't for him. _

"Look, Lewis, I don't know what happened with that fire hydrant, but if you so much as mention it again, I'll remove your head from your shoulders." Zane threatened him.

_The last thing I need is to be turned into a laughing stock by Lewis' big mouth. _

Zane starts walking away when Lewis grabs him by the shoulders, stopping him. Zane turns around to look at him.

_So, poor, weak Lewis has finally had enough. Well, bring it on loser._

"Come on, then. Hit me. I'll gladly knock you out in front of your little crush," Zane told Lewis.

"Shut up, Zane. I don't think of her like that, it's more of a friendship kind of way…" Lewis trails off.

"Yeah, whatever you say, I'll still knock you out," Zane said as he pushed Lewis off him getting ready to punch him.

"Alright then, I'm going to kick your ass," Lewis said, raising his fist up at Zane.

"Let it go, Lewis," Cleo said as she got in between the two of them.

"She's right," Byron said, helping Cleo keep the two boys separate, "She's right. It's not worth it, mate, and will it change him," he looks over at his friend and smiles, "No, so best just leave it alone."

The owner of the cafe come over to break up the fight and walked Zane over to his seat. Cleo looked over at Zane as he left.

_I know, I'm ignoring him but I have to check up on him. _

"I'll be right back," she told Lewis before heading over to Zane.

"Are you okay, Zane?" she asked him as she took a seat next to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Good to know we are on speaking terms again," Zane looked over at her and gave her a small smile.

"Guess I'm just going to have to threaten to beat up your best friend more often," Zane said in a joking tone.

"Leave Lewis alone, I just come over to see if you were okay. I know that you only react like that if something is bothering you, like the whole spark plug incident," Cleo said.

"Cleo, I'm really sorry about all that, I don't even know why I did that. I was just so frustrated and I was running late, not that it's a good excuse for what I did. I was going to apologize to you the other day but then the fire hydrant blow up and you ran off," Zane pauses and sighs.

"I wasn't really going to fight Lewis, he just brought up the whole fire hydrant thing and I didn't want him telling all of my friends about it. I'm really embarrassed about the whole incident," Zane explained.

Cleo couldn't but feel a little guilty, after all she was the one that made the fire hydrant explode on Zane like that.

"It's okay, Zane, I already forgot about the whole incident. So are you going to Miriam's party?" she asked him.

"Of course I'm going. Byron is one of my best friends," He looks over at Cleo.

"I was thinking about going, you know, to support Byron but I have...this...thing. I'll see if I can make it. Hopefully, I'll see you there," she smiles at Zane before getting up and going back to her seat with Lewis.

**Miriam's Pool Party**

_This blows, _Zane thought, _Byron isn't even here yet. This party is so boring _

"Do you think Byron will even show up to this party?" Nate asks him.

"Crap, I didn't even think about that," Zane groaned, "Knowing him, he's probably going to blow the party for a good wave. I forgot that he is way too humble to attend a party thrown in his hon-" Zane is cut off by Nate who motions over to something behind him.

Zane quickly turns around and smiles. Byron may not ever arrive but at least Cleo did. Zane was not going to be let down twice today.

"Look who's here," he says.

_At least Cleo can make this party a bit better. She's always been able to make even the most boring things somewhat enjoyable. _

"Just when we wanted a bit of fun," he smiles as he walks over to her.

"No, get back," Cleo warns him, as she starts to panic.

"Don't be like that, Cleo. You had a good laugh when I got soaked last week. Now it's your turn," Zane says.

_She's acting like it's life or death. Everyone gets thrown in the people, we already threw Miriam and some other girl in. It's not like it's a big deal. _

"I have a cold. I can't go in the water. It's the flu, actually. And it's catching," at this point Cleo was just throwing things out there hoping that one of those reasons would stop the boys.

"Come on. Swim time. You're going in," Zane told her, smiling.

_Come on, Cleo, the flu. Nice try, but who would come to a SWIM party if they are sick and can't even go in the water. _

"It could even be pneumonia," Cleo said getting more desperate.

All the boys started cheering her name, there was no way she was getting out of this one. Some time had passed since they dunked their last victim and they were getting bored. Zane reached over and grabs Cleo from under her shoulders. Nate quickly grabs her legs and then the two boys start building the momentum to throw her in the pool.

"Zane, please, put me down. I really am sick. I can't go in the water," Cleo yells out.

"I don't believe you Cleo. Why would you come to a pool party if you really are sick? Besides, you know we always throw people into the pool." Zane told her

"Stop, please!" she yells hoping that she can change their minds.

" What do you reckon Nate. On three?" he looks to Nate, who nods his head.

" One, two, three-" they were cut off by Lewis.

"Let her go Zane!" Lewis yells at them.

"If you insist," Zane says before he throws Cleo into the pool.

_What a jealous bastard! First he won't let me apologize to Cleo in peace and now he won't even let the two of us have some fun together. It's not like Cleo is in any real danger, the pool is hardly deep so she should be okay. _

**Inside the Juicenet Cafe**

Zane is walking by Emma and Rikki when he overhears them talking about Cleo's dad.

"I feel awful about being the ones to tell Cleo that her dad is using illegal nets," Emma says to Rikki.

"Don't forget the part where he's fishing in illegal areas too," Rikki adds, neither one of them realizing that Zane is next them listening to the whole conversation.

"What!" Zane yells out, blowing his cover, "You guys have to be joking or something."

Emma and Rikki jump and look over to Zane.

"Zane, you can't tell anyone about it. Seriously, Cleo is devastated," Emma begs.

"Do you guys really think I'm that bad?" Zane asks them. He looks over to the exit where Cleo is leaning against a wooden pole. "I can't even imagine what she must be going through right now."

"I know, and the worst part is that she won't talk to us about it," Emma tells him, "She won't talk to us about anything really."

"Let me give it a go, I need to talk to her about something anyways." Zane tells the two girls before he walks out to where Cleo was.

"Now what are you thinking?" Zane asks Cleo. She looks over at him with a confused look. "Rikki and Emma told me about your dad." He says sheepishly.

"Great. So now the whole world knows that my dad's a criminal." Cleo says angrily. _Why can't Emma and Rikki just keep their big mouths shut? If Zane knows I'm the rest of the world will follow._

"They didn't mean to, I overheard them talking and that's how I found out. Sorry, you know how I get with gossip," Zane says hoping that it he would get a laugh out of her. It works, Cleo can't help but laugh a little, she didn't know if it was out of relief because her friends didn't spill her secret on purpose or because Zane admitted to being the biggest gossip. The moment left them as quickly as it arrived. Cleo glanced over to Zane with the most serious look he had ever seen.

"What would you do, Zane?" She asked him, hoping to get some sort of solution.

"My father has always told me that image is more important than anything. So, I guess, I don't know what I would do. But that's just me." Zane smiles at her. He couldn't help but feel bad that he couldn't help her out.

"You're no help," Cleo says a little annoyed at Zane.

"Come on, Cleo. I'm sorry I can't be more useful at least let me apologize for the other day at Miriam's pool party." Zane says, changing the subject hoping to distract her from her problem, "I didn't mean to upset you that day, I was just messing around with you. I honestly didn't believe you when you said you had a cold but then I noticed that you left right after that. I'm sorry if I made you feel even worse that day." Zane looks away from her so she can't see the guilt on his face. Zane wants to make her feel better but he also doesn't want her to think that he's a softy.

"Zane Bennett, I can't believe what a jerk you are!" She yells at him.

"What do you mean, I'm only trying to make you feel better, sorry if my apology offended you or something." Zane replies feeling a little confused.

"I didn't have a cold, I wasn't even sick that day."

"Then why did you say you were, I've been feeling bad this whole time because I thought I threw a sick person in a pool instead I threw a liar!" He yells back at her.

"Did you honestly forget that I can't swim?" Cleo asks him.

Zane a rush of stupidity wash over him. _Of course she can't swim. I DID completely forget about that part. I feel like such a jerk, no wonder she's so mad. _

"Cleo, I'm so sorry, I did forget. I guess I just figured that you probably learned how to swim, considering that you're best friend is a competitive swimmer and your dad is a fisherman. Your whole life is surrounded by water," Zane glances over at her meeting her gaze, "Why haven't you learned how to swim yet?

"I'm scared of it," Cleo tells him, "Is that what you want to hear? Go ahead, run around and tell everyone so you can all make fun of me together."

"Cleo, everybody's scared of something," Zane looks directly at her so she can see how serious he is, "But you, you're amazing, and I know that you have nothing to be afraid of. I know that you have nothing to be afraid of."

Cleo looks up at him half expecting him to be smiling and getting ready to make fun of her. _He's probably laughing on the inside, this is the best thing that has ever happened to him. He found two big gossip worthy secrets. _

"You're only saying I'm amazing because my dad is a criminal and you feel bad for me," Cleo tells him before walking away.

"I wasn't saying it because of your dad," Zane tells the air in front of him wishing he had spoken when she was still outside. _I can't believe her, here I am trying to make her feel better and she ends up making me feel bad. Again. I meant it when I said she was amazing. Why can't she see that for herself?_

**Back at the Sertoris House**

Cleo is in the bathtub thinking back on her conversation with Zane. She keeps replaying Zane telling her that she's amazing. Cleo glances over at her tail. _I wonder if he would still think I'm amazing if he knew what I really am. _


	3. Episode 4

Season One Episode 4 starts at the Juicenet Cafe

Zane is sitting down having a smoothie with Miriam and her annoying friend. He notices Cleo and her friends taking a seat across from them.

No Lewis this time, Zane can't help but notice, Perfect time to mess with Cleo. There's no lame loser around to make me look like an arsehole.

Zane walks up to the register and orders three prune juices.

"Gross, mate, are you really going to drink three cups of prune juice?" the guy at the register asks him. A look of disgust was very clear on his face.

"No, you idiot, it's for a prank," Zane tells him, "Make sure that you make them look like frozen cones."

"You got it, just give me one second," the guy says.

Zane watches as he quickly gets the prune juice poured into some frozen cone cups.

"Here you go, enjoy your prank," he says with a smile.

"Yeah, whatever," Zane replies as he takes the tray and starts walking towards Cleo's table

"Three frozen cones," Zane says with a big smile on his face. This is going to be so epic.

"What about them?"Rikki asks.

Cleo doesn't even think twice about what Zane's intentions might be. How nice of Zane to give us some frozen cones. Maybe he still feels bad about my dad. I never really had the chance to tell him that he wasn't a criminal and that it was all a misunderstanding.

"You look thirsty," Zane says in what he hoped sounded like genuine concern. He walks back over to his table before they could say anything else.

Cleo takes that as the go ahead to start drinking. She starts drinking it but instead of the sweet taste of frozen cones, she gets the awful taste of prune juice. Cleo starts coughing as she tries to get the taste of prune juice out of her mouth.

"Prune juice?" Emma asks.

Cleo nodded her head. I should have known better. Zane never does anything for free, no matter how bad he feels about something.

"Mature, Zane, real mature," Rikki yells out to Zane's table.

Zane laughs but makes the mistake of looking over to Cleo. He can see that she's looking right at him. Zane look away before he can start feeling bad again. Only Cleo can turn me into such a softy and make me feel bad about the most harmless prank ever. It's technically not even a harmful prank. I probably did her a favor by making her drink some prune juice. Zane tells himself, hoping to keep away the guilty feeling that he was starting to become very familiar with.

Suddenly phones all around them started going off.

"Emma's sleepover is on," he hears a girl sitting behind them say. He noticed that one phone hadn't gone off.

Battery dead?" he asks Miriam, knowing that she was probably not invited to Emma's sleepover.

"As if I'd go to her stupid party anyway," she replies back to him.

"Why don't we go? You and me," Zane asks her without even really thinking.

"Ummm, I don't think we are invited. Surprise," Miriam replies with a sarcastic tone.

Zane can tell from her tone that she is really upset about not being invited. Honestly what did she expect. I know I'm always teasing Cleo but I always apologize when I know I've gone too far. I don't think she's ever want to apologize to Emma or Cleo for a single bad thing that she has done to them.

"Come on, who needs an invitation,'' he says as he looks back at Cleo smiling. "If we're lucky maybe will catch a glimpse of Cleo wearing some dorky pajama set."

He could picture her wearing some monkey pajamas with dorky monkey slippers. Zane imagination started picturing Cleo in a huge grandma nightgown. That would make my year if she was dressed up like a grandma. She would never hear the end of it for me.

The image of the knee length nightgown quickly changed to a mid thigh one, from longsleeved to thin spaghetti strap, from rough cotton to soft silk. Well, I'm gonna stop right there. She's not going to be wearing something like that to a sleepover.

Emma's house: Scene starts off when Zane is talking to the whole crowd of girls.

"Well, this is boring. Everyone is just talking to Zane," Cleo tells Rikki and Emma. She can't help but feel disappointed. I was really hoping that I could catch a moment alone with Zane. I've had it with his dumb pranks.

"He's up to something," Rikki says.

"Yeah, taking over my party," Emma replied back.

"I'll kick them out for you, Emma," Cleo tells her.

"No offense, Cleo but do you even know how to kick someone out?" Rikki asks Cleo. Cleo rolls her eyes at Rikki.

"Zane, I need to speak to you, now," Cleo demands in a loud voice.

"Sorry Cleo, can't," Zane gestures to the girls in front of him, "The girls need me."

"Zane," she says getting up from her seat and starts walking towards him. He's so irritating.

"Cleo really, I'd be letting them down," he says with the biggest smile on his face.

Okay, now I know that he's messing with me. Cleo can feel herself getting angrier the closer she gets. She grabs his arm and starts pulling them away.

"Excuse me ladies, I think I'm needed for a moment in private," Zane says before allowing Cleo to pull them away. Cleo couldn't help but notice the jealous glares that all the girls at the party were giving her. Cleo leads him to Emma's room because she knows that no one will be able to interrupt them in there. What Cleo doesn't notice is the suspicious glare which he gives them

Zane slowly start walking around the room. This must be Emma's room. Why did she bring me here?

He notices his picture on one of the shelves.

"Check this," he picks up the picture to get a closer look, "Our old primary school photo."

"Whatever you're trying to do, forget it," Cleo tells him.

"Hey, I'm just here with Miriam" Zane puts the picture down and does his best to look innocent.

"Oh really? What does your girlfriend think of you flirting with everyone else?" Cleo asks, hoping to make him feel bad.

"Girlfriend?" Zane replies. Does Mariam think we are dating? Cleo apparently thinks we are. Perfect, just what I needed.

"I don't think so," Zane says, trying to keep the disgust out of his voice, "Miriam is the girl I let follow me around wherever it suits me."

Yeah, well, God knows you need one since I stopped following you around long ago, Cleo thought.

"You know, I used to think that you were so amazing. Until I found out what a user you are."

"What's gotten into you? Are you mad about the frozen cone/prune juice thing?"

"Of course I'm mad about the prune juice thing!" Cleo yells at him.

"All right then, I'm sorry, okay!" Zane yells back at her.

"Typical Zane, thinks he can say sorry and all is forgiven. Well, it's not going to work this time."

"Come on, I already said sorry what more do you want me to do."

"Do you know how stupid you made me look? You took advantage of how much I trust you!" Cleo yells at him.

She was so caught up in the yelling that she didn't notice Rikki walking to the door only to turn around and walk back to the living room.

"What do you mean I made you look stupid?"

"I was the only one that drank it!" Cleo walks closer to him.

"I didn't force you to drink it, you know."

"I didn't look stupid because I drank it. I looked stupid because I trusted you," She tells him in a low voice.

Zane immediately feels a bone crushing guilt in his chest when he hears her say that.

"You're right Cleo, I'm really sorry about it. Please forgive me?" Zane asks her.

"No" she says shocking both of them.

"What," Zane can't believe what Cleo had just said.

"No," she repeats, "No, I won't forgive you because I know you don't mean it. You always say sorry and then the next day you do the exact same thing again. I'm sorry Zane but I just don't trust you anymore."

"You can't be serious Cleo. Are you really not going to forgive me?"

"I'm serious Zane. Whenever it's just you and me, you are honestly one of the sweetest people ever but as soon as someone walks into the room you turn into the biggest jerk. Why is that? Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?" Cleo says as Zane reaches over to grab her hand.

"I'm not embarrassed to be seen with you, Cleo."

"Really? Then what is it."

"It's just that I have a reputation to maintain. I can't be seen as a softy. Especially not to one of the biggest losers in our class, not that I consider you a loser," Zane quickly adds, "That's not why I make fun of you."  
Cleo starts to pull her hand away but Zane holds on tighter.

"Half of the time I don't even think that I'm making fun of you. I think of you as someone who used to be a good friend and and now we're not really friends but still on good terms and we just happen to tease each other every once in a while. I know sometimes I take it a bit too far but I always try to apologize."

"Get to the point Zane, I have to get back to the party."

"The point is that I tricked you into drinking prune juice not battery acid. Don't you think that you might be overreacting just a little bit?"

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave the party."

"Are you really going to kick me out? Come on I'm the only fun thing at this stupid lame party."

"Zane Bennett, this party means a lot to Emma. She really wants this party to be perfect and you're ruining it for her. If you really are sorry about the prune juice thing then leave."

"I'll leave on one condition."

"What is it?"

"Say that you'll forgive me."

"If you leave right now and don't come back for the rest of the night, I'll consider forgiving you."

"I'll take it." Zane tells her quickly.

Cleo and Zane start heading back to the entrance of the house. Rikki sees them coming and meets Cleo at the door, pastries in hand.

"Zane, leaving so soon but you haven't even had a chance to try the food."

"No, thanks Rikki. We brought them for them for the guests to have."

"But you are a guest, Zane" Rikki hold the tray of pastries up for Zane to have.

"I'll have this one then."

"How about this one?" Rikki grabs a different one on the other side of the tray.

Zane grabs it and slowly puts it in his mouth and eats it. Why did she have to make me eat it. I hate sweets. He notices the slightly disappointed look on Rikki and the relieved look on Cleo.

"Wait, you didn't actually think that I was immature enough to put prune juice in the pastries."

"Of course I did, unlike Cleo, I'm not dumb enough to blind trust everything you do. No offense, Cleo." Rikki adds apologetically before walking away.

Zane looks back at Cleo and sees a look of hurt on her face.

"Cleo, I really am sorry." Zane tells her quietly before opening the door and walking out.

Emma's House: Cleo and Emma in the Bathroom

"It's not your fault you got wet," Emma gently tells Cleo.

"No, but it's my fault you had the party. I was the one that talked you into it."

"I'm glad you did, otherwise I'd be stuck in my room, watching tv all night."

"At least you'd be safe from black currant and alfalfa juice," Cleo tells Emma, making her laugh a little.

"Cleo," Emma says quietly, "You were right to get the job at the marine park. We can't spend our lives hiding."

"I was right? Me?" Cleo says in a mock surprised tone. "Gee, I'll have to get used to that one."

"So, what did you and Zane talk about in my bedroom? You guys were gone for an awful long time."

Cleo quickly fills in Emma on the conversation that Zane and her had.

"Wow, I knew that you guys were fighting because Rikki said that she went up there and heard you two yelling."

"Rikki? What was she doing there? I didn't even see her," Cleo tells Emma.

"Yeah, she went up there to make Zane taste the pastries. Apparently she thought that Zane had messed with them. I swear that girl is more obsessed with Zane than Lewis is obsessed with you." Emma tells Cleo.

"I thought Rikki hated Zane," Cleo says a little confused.

"Just between you and me, I think she might have a small crush on him."

"What! Emma, I know that you are usually right about a lot of things but not on this."

"Cleo, just picture them together. Their children will be the meanest kids in school," Emma laughing.

"Yeah," Cleo says quietly. For some reason picturing Zane and Rikki together with kids made her stomach hurt. Maybe I just need to eat something.

"Let's go back to the party before someone notices that their host and her best friend are missing," Cleo says changing the subject.

"You're right, let's go."

Emma and Cleo get up from the side of the bathtub and go back to the party. Cleo couldn't get the idea of Zane and Rikki being together out of her head for the rest of the night and no matter how much she ate she still couldn't get that painful feeling in her stomach to stop.

**Sorry for the late update, I've been a little busy these few months. I hope this chapter was worth the wait though!**


	4. Episode 5 and 6

**_So this is just a short little filler chapter since episode 5 and 6 don't really have a lot of openings for some Cleo and Zane moments. In my version of episode 6 everything is the same except for Elliot's rescue. He still develops a crush for Rikki because she was still the one that got him out of the water. Although he's_** **_**unconscious**_****__****_**he sort of creates this fantasy of how Rikki looked when she saved him. Everything else is exactly the same. Enjoy!**_**

**Episode 5:**

**Scene starts with Cleo walking home from the pageant**

_I can't believe that Kim tried to expose us like that in public. Does she even realize what would have happened to us if we were caught? She can't possibly hate me that much, can she?_

Cleo was so deep in thought she didn't notice Zane walking up to her.

"Hey, Cleo. Sorry, you didn't win. I thought your Portuguese Man of War costume was the best one. I mean talk about sea motif."

"What do you want Zane?"

"Who said anything about me wanting something? Can't I pay you a compliment?"

"Nope."

"Oh come on, you aren't still mad at me, Emma's party was days ago. I thought you'd be over it by now."

"You know, Zane, when you call people losers they tend to get upset over it and it takes a lot longer than a few days to "get over it" as you so kindly put it."

"What is it going to take to get you to forgive me completely?" Zane grabs a hold of her arm to stop her from walking. Cleo turns to look at Zane.

"A miracle," she says dead serious, "It's not just the loser comment, Zane, I just don't trust you and I don't need to be spending my time with people that I don't trust."

Cleo pulls her arm free and walks away leaving Zane behind.

For some reasons, Zane was not okay with the nicest person that he has ever known hating him. _I mean, what does it say about me when even Cleo doesn't like me. Cleo! The girl likes everyone. Alright, Cleo, you want a miracle? I'll gain your trust back even if it takes my entire life to do it. _

**Episode 6: **

**Scene starts at the beach during Elliot's surfing lessons**

"The first few lessons are on the sand, no chance of getting wet," Emma says looking up at Rikki.

"Hey, Emma, the clean up the beach rally is starting, Are you going to come?" Byron asks.

"Yep, Cleo is coming to pick up Elliot. She should be here by now." Emma looks around the beach quickly to see if she can spot Cleo.

"Well, we've got to head out now if we want to get a decent spot,"

"Alright, Byron, can you give me a second?" Emma leans over to Rikki. "Can you do me a really big favor? Watch Elliot for me?" Emma asks not really giving Rikki a chance to answer.

"No way, it's not going to happen," Rikki shakes her head.

"Please"

"Sorry, I don't do kids. Just take him with you," Rikki waves her hand over to where Elliot is standing.

"He needs to practice," Byron says to Emma and Rikki. Emma gives Rikki a pleading look.

"Maybe you want to come to the clean up the beach rally?" Emma asks Rikki.

"No, thanks."

"Great, it's settled," Emma says, "Thanks, I appreciate it."

"Emma! I take no responsibility for what may or may not happen to him."

"I trust that you can watch him in the two whole minutes it will take for Cleo to get here. Then you are free to do as you place," Emma tells Rikki before she walks away with Byron.

"Did you know that I'm going to be a pro surfer," Elliot says. Rikki glances over to Elliot, barely giving him the time of day.

"No one said I had to talk to you."

"Watch, I'll show you," Elliot said picking up his surfboard and heads to the water.

"Elliot, quit showing off!" Rikki yells after him. Suddenly Cleo pops out from behind the huge rock formation that Rikki is laying in front of.

"It took me forever to find you. I couldn't see you guys hiding behind this rock," Cleo looks over to Rikki and notices that everyone is gone, "Umm, Rikki? Where is everyone?"

Rikki stands up and walks closer to the water. She looks over to Cleo and points toward the ocean.

"Well, Elliot is over there. He's showing off when he should be practicing!" Rikki yells the last part so that Elliot can hear her.

Cleo runs over to Rikki. Rikki looks over to Cleo and sees that she has worried look on her face.

"Rikki! How could you let him go into the water? I know that Emma is a great swimmer but Elliot is not. He makes me look like an Olympic swimmer." Cleo stands on her tiptoes to try and get a better look at Elliot.

"Sorry, I told Emma not to leave him with me," Rikki says.

They both look at Elliot. Before they know it, a big wave knocks Elliot off his board and pulls him under. Rikki and Cleo look at each other.

"He's fine. The water doesn't look too crazy I'm sure that he can swim back on his own," Rikki says but as soon as she says that they hear Elliot calling for help before he goes under again. Cleo gives Rikki an "I told you so" look.

"You have to get him, Rikki."

"Me! Why me? You know we can't get wet," Rikki says.

"Well _I_ can't get him because as far as anyone is concerned, I can't swim. Don't you think it would look a little suspicious if I become a pro swimmer in a day."

"Not any more suspicious than a teenage girl with a tail," Rikki mutters.

"Rikki!" Cleo yells, "We don't have time to argue just get him on the board and push him as close to shore as you possibly can. All the lifeguards are too far away. They'll never get here on time."

"Alright, I'm going," Rikki says.

Rikki takes off running towards the water. She goes by the rocks so she can dive into water that has some depth to it. She can see Elliot underwater but he wasn't flailing anymore. If she didn't know any better she would have thought that he was sleeping but Rikki knew that no one, including her and her mermaid friends, had the ability to fall asleep underwater. She quickly pulled Elliot out of the water and lays him on his board. She gets him as close to shore as she can and then gives his board a hard push before she swims away. _It's up to Cleo now._

Cleo sees Elliot being brought back to the shore. She runs over to meet him. She starts to bend down to pick him, right before she grabs him she remembers that he is soaking wet. She quickly pulls her hand away and backs up.

"Elliot," Cleo calls over to him quietly.

"Elliot!" She yells, tears started to fall down her face.

Nothing, no answer. _Oh, no. He's not moving. It doesn't even look like he's breathing. What do I do? I can't touch him, I'll turn into a mermaid before I can even do anything helpful._

Cleo starts looking around to see if anyone can help. She sees Zane and Nate about to walk past her, not knowing what else to do she calls out to him.

"Zane!" Cleo yells, "Zane, please can you help."

Zane looks over to Cleo. He takes one look at her appearance and drops his board and runs over to her.

"Cleo, what's the matter? What happened? Did someone hurt you? I told you that you shouldn't be so nice to every-" Cleo cuts him off.

"Elliot," She manages to get out, "Help Elliot."

Zane looks over and notices that Cleo is not alone. Zane quickly kneels over to Elliot and leans his head so that his ear is over Elliot's mouth and nose.

"He's not breathing," Zane tells Cleo. Cleo starts crying even harder.

"Hey, Cleo, it's okay. I've got this," Zane tells Cleo before reaching over to feel Elliot's pulse. _Shit, no pulse. _

Zane starts doing chest compressions and hopes that Elliot starts breathing. Zane only has to do this for a minute or two before Elliot starts coughing up sea water. Rikki comes running up from a secluded part of the beach.

"Cleo, is he okay?" Rikki asks.

Cleo lets out a breath that she hadn't realized that she had been holding in.

"Yeah, Zane's got it all under control."

Cleo and Rikki look over to where Zane is kneeling over Elliot. They can hear Zane asking Elliot if he was okay.

"Wow, who would've thought that Zane would be anyone's knight in shining armor," Rikki says in a surprised tone.

Zane gets up and reaches over to help Elliot. As soon as Elliot is on his own two feet, Cleo walks over to Zane and gives him a hug that almost knocks him right back down.

"Woah, Cleo, easy there," Zane says before returning her hug.

Cleo couldn't help but cry again thinking about how awful this day could have turned out.

"Zane, thank you," Cleo whispers. _I don't even think he realizes how much he saved me today. He not only saved Elliot's life but he also helped me keep my secret. God, how awful would it have been explaining to Emma that her brother drowned because I couldn't give him CPR without growing a tail on a beach surrounded by people._

"Don't even sweat it Cleo. I only did what anyone on this beach would have done."

Cleo starts to pull away from him so she can give Elliot her full attention. She notices that Rikki had already covered him with a towel and was already calling Emma to let her know what happened.

Rikki, Nate, Elliot, Zane, and Cleo all waited for Emma to come back and get Elliot. Around ten minutes passed with no one saying a word before Emma showed up. Cleo filled her in on everything that had happened since she left.

"Emma, please don't tell mom and dad about this. They'll be so mad, I'll be banned from even _seeing_ the ocean."

"I don't know, Elliot. Why don't we make a stop at the hospital and have them check you out. If they say you're okay then we can keep this to ourselves."

"Okay, thanks Emma."

Emma gave a quick but grateful thanks to Zane before she left.

"Remind me to not leave anyone under your watch, Rikki," Zane tells her with a smile on his face.

"It's a little too soon to make jokes," Rikki says angrily before marching away.

"I was only trying to lighten up the mood. I didn't mean to make her mad," Zane tells Cleo and Nate.

"I don't know about you mate, but that's about all the excitement that I can handle for today so if you don't mind I'm going to head home now," Nate tells Zane.

"Alright, I'm probably going to head home too."

Nate walks off leaving Cleo and Zane alone.

"I owe you big time Zane," Cleo tells him before reaching over to give him another hug. Cleo tilts her head and gives Zane a soft kiss on his cheek.

"You really don't, Cleo," Zane pulls away enough so he can look at her face.

"I forgive you," she whispers to him.

"What?" Zane asks, not really sure if he heard her right.

"I forgive you, for everything. I can't possibly stay mad at you after today."

"Thanks, Cleo."

They both pull away and proceeded to go their own ways. _Don't make me regret trusting you again, Zane._


	5. Episode 7 and 8

**_I just want to say thank you to the readers that deal with my janky updating schedule. Things have been pretty hectic for me these last few months and I've hardly had time ,or the motivation really, to write. I am happy to say that I have managed to write a couple of chapters that are a decent length, so expect more where this one came from. Also in case anyone forgot I don't own the rights to H2O Just Add Water. _**

**Episodes 7: Scene starts at Emma's house during her dad's party**

Cleo had just left Emma to go and get her sardines when she ran into Zane.

"Oh, Zane! I didn't see you there. Can I help you with something?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to see if Emma was okay, I mean, the things she said to my dad and his 'girlfriend' were hilarious but that's not really Emma."

"She's fine," Cleo says, quickly grabbing him by the arm and pulling him back in. _I have to keep him away from Emma. No one can see her like this, especially Zane._

"She didn't really sound fine" Zane tries again to move outside.

"Like I said, she's just overtired. Did you know that she has a 26 minute speech planned for her dad? She also refused to have anyone help her with any of the party planning stuff."

"Yeah, I suppose that would drive anyone mad," Zane says, seeming to accept Cleo's explanation.

"Exactly! I think she just needs some time alone to relax and get some fresh air" Cleo says, still holding on to Zane. She lets go of him when she is sure that he won't try and look for Emma.

"So, I see that you brought Miriam with you again. You two seem to be getting pretty serious huh," Cleo says hoping to change the subject from Emma.

"Oh, not you too," Zane groans.

"I'm just saying" Cleo raises her hands innocently.

"I already told Emma that Miriam is not my girlfriend."

"I never used the word girlfriend, that was all you Zane. Now excuse me, I have some sardines that I need to get." Cleo says before turning to head to the kitchen.

**Later at the party**

"I found Emma," Elliot said to Cleo and Rikki.

Cleo quickly grabs him and pulls him to the kitchen before anyone can hear him. Unfortunately, they didn't notice that Zane had overheard him.

"She's outside in the spa," Elliot continues.

_The spa, _Zane thinks. _So here we all are, surprising her father on his birthday and she's outside in the spa. Rude but also not like Emma. There has to be more to it than she's overtired._

"You talked to her?" Rikki asks quickly glancing over to Cleo, the panic on her face was very visible.

"No, she was sort of kissing Byron," Elliot says with a disgusted look on his face.

Rikki and Cleo exchange a look before making their way outside. They don't make it very far before a hand reaches out to grab Cleo's arm.

"Woah there," Zane says, pulling Cleo back.

"Zane let me go," Cleo tries to pull her arm away but she knows his hold is too strong.

"It's okay, Cleo, I've got this. Just make sure to keep the guests entertained." Rikki gives a pointed look at Zane, very clearly telling Cleo to make sure Zane isn't anywhere near Emma.

"Alright, I'll be out there to help as soon as I can."

Zane pulls her deeper into the house until they find themselves right outside Emma's room.

"So why didn't you just tell me the truth about what Emma was really doing outside?" Zane pulls his hand away from Emma so he can cross his arms and glare at her.

"What are you talking about Zane?" Cleo figures the best approach is to just play dumb, "I told you that she wanted to get some fresh air-"

"Fresh air, my ass." Zane interrupts her.

"Zane!"

"I heard what Elliot said. You know you could have just told me that she went outside to meet up with Byron. I would have understood, instead you lied to me. Not only did you lie to me but Byron did too since he didn't even mention anything about making out with Emma." Zane couldn't help but feel a little hurt. _Byron is one of my closest friends, why wouldn't he tell me anything about him and Emma? Why didn't Cleo? Maybe she is still mad at me?_

"Are you still mad at me? Is that why all of you felt like you couldn't say anything to me?" Zane says in a quiet voice, too embarrassed to look Cleo in the eyes.

"Zane, I already told you that I'm not mad at you. Why would I say that if I really wasn't? You know I hate playing those kinds of games. Whatever is going on with Emma and Byron wasn't planned and I definitely didn't know about it. It's like I said earlier Emma isn't really feeling like herself tonight, she really is a little out of it"

"Oh, sorry, I just feel like I'm always on such thin ice with you."

"Zane, really it's okay. I've just been going through a lot of things lately."

"You can always talk to me Cleo. That is if you don't have anyone else to talk to."

_What am I doing? Did I just give Cleo an invitation to spend more time with me? Did I want her to spend more time with me?_

"Em! Emma, it's time to make your speech," they hear Emma's mom called out from the living room. They both turn to see Lewis and Rikki wheeling Emma towards the bathroom.

"Oh no, this can't be good. Emma is in no position to be giving any speeches." Cleo tells Zane before rushing over to where Rikki and Lewis are standing.

"Emma's asked me to do it." Cleo says before she has time to really think it through. _What! Why did I say that? I can't give a 26 minute long speech! Come on, Cleo, think what was all that stuff about fatherhood that Emma was saying earlier. _

Cleo tries her best to give the same speech that she heard Emma say earlier that day. _Weird, Emma's speech was 26 minutes but mine was only a few minutes long. I wonder what parts of it I'm forgetting. Oh well, they must not have been that important if I forgot them so easily._

Cleo looked pretty proud at the speech that she had just given. Then she turned around and saw the look on Zane's face. He looked like he was about to burst out laughing any second.

"What's so funny? I thought my speech was actually very good." Cleo starts to feel a little self conscious about the speech she just made.

"No, it was good," Zane quickly says, the last thing he wants to do is hurt Cleo's feelings, "I just know that Emma's speech probably had a lot of insignificant details in it. Your speech was a lot better."

"Thanks, Zane," Cleo says, "I better go and check on Emma. See you later, Zane."

"See you later, Cleo," Zane says in a soft voice as he watches Cleo head to Emma's room. _What am I doing? Why am I so invested in what Cleo is doing? I should be in a dark corner somewhere making out with Miriam, not talking to Cleo about some dumb speech. _Zane sighs. _What is this girl doing to me?_

**Episode 8: Scene starts after Lewis tells Cleo about his internship offer.**

Cleo is sitting at the docks watching Lewis walk away from her.

_This is it. If he leaves with her, our friendship will never be the same. I should have tried harder to get him to stay but I thought that he would have had at least one reason to not leave. How could he say that he doesn't have any reason to stay? What about helping us figure out what happened to us? What about us?_

Cleo remembers what Lewis said about them in her room the other day.

"Of course he would think Dr. Baywatch Babe is so much better than us," Cleo says out loud.

"Dr. What," a voice says from behind her.

Cleo jumps and lets out a shriek. She turns around and sees Zane standing over her.

"Great, just what I needed. What do you want Zane? Are you going to send me to sea on another Zodiac? Also why is it that you always seem to be showing up in the worst times, are you following me?" Cleo glares up at him.

"Um, no to two of those questions. I just came to ride my jet ski." Zane says pointing the jet ski directly in front of Cleo.

"Oh" Cleo can feel her cheeks turning pink.

"Are you okay? No offense, but you look a little off."

"I'm sorry, Zane, I didn't mean to come off so rude. It's just that I've kinda been having a bad day."

"Do you want to talk about it? I promise I won't say anything to anyone, even Emma and Rikki if they ask." Zane tells in a very serious tone.

Cleo can't help but laugh at the serious look on his face.

"Honestly, it's nothing super secret worthy but talking about it might help."

"Alright then, let's hear it," Zane says before he moves to sit next to her.

"Dr. Denman offered Lewis an internship position." Cleo looks at Zane and sees a confused look on his face.

"I don't understand why that leads to you having a bad day. That's a good thing right."

"It's more than that Zane. You should see how Lewis gets around this lady, you would think that she discovered evolution. Ever since Lewis started interning for her, he has become a real jerk. The other day for example we were arguing about something and he told us that he thought that we were a bunch of kids unlike Dr. Denman who is more mature than us."

"Us?" Zane questions.

"Rikki, Emma, and me." Cleo says.

"Oh, right. Did he really say that?" Zane couldn't help but be shocked. It was hard not to be when he thinks about all the times that Lewis would defend Cleo from him

"Yeah, and when he asked me if he should take the offer, I asked if anything was holding him back. He didn't even hesitate to say no." Cleo could feel herself tearing up.

"Ouch," Zane says, "What were you guys arguing about? I find it a little hard to believe that Lewis would have even been arguing with you about anything. That boy is so head over heels for you, it's sickening or at least he was."

"I can't really say since it doesn't just involve just me."

"Alright, I understand." Zane says a little disappointed.

" I always thought that me and Lewis would have ended up together someday."

"I think everyone does," Zane adds, "What do you mean 'did'? Do you not think that you and Lewis will still end up together? You know that after his internship is over he will be back."

"I know, but this whole thing has made me realize that maybe me and Lewis aren't meant to be. I always thought that he might have had a small crush on me and I have been waiting for years for him to make a move."

Cleo is trying her best to not cry but one stray tear still managed to work its way down her face. Zane reached over to grab her hand. Cleo smiles up at him in thanks.

"Lewis and I have been friends for as long as I can remember but then some hot scientist comes along and it's like we barely know each other. I don't know about you but I don't want to be with someone like that, you know?" Cleo looks over at Zane, who nods his head in agreement.

"That's true. I have a feeling that you aren't telling me the whole story though. There must be a bigger reason behind this," Zane says.

Cleo starts to open her mouth to deny when Zane starts talking again.

"But I don't want to push you into saying anything you aren't comfortable sharing with me."

"Thanks, Zane, for everything." Cleo tells him, squeezing his hand.

"No problem, Cleo. I don't know why but I have always had this soft spot for you that no one can seem to shake, not even Miriam," Zane whispers the last part to her making her laugh.

"You know, I'm kinda glad this happened. I feel like this whole time I've been thinking about Lewis when I should have been thinking about myself." Cleo tells Zane. _I have spent all this time being upset about Lewis that I haven't had time to think about how close we are to being discovered. I can't believe how much I've let Emma and Rikki down. I work in the same park that Dr. Denman does her research, surely I can sneak in and see if she is hiding any research about us. It's time to put Lewis behind, even if he changes his mind and decides to stay. Lewis and I were destined to be friends and nothing more. I just have to trust that at the end of the day, Lewis, will remember who his real friends are._


	6. Episode 10

**Episode 10: Major Zane**

**Scene starts off when Emma and Rikki are trying to interview Emma's mom.**

"Have you seen Cleo?" Emma asks Rikki.

"Uh, no," Rikki tries to quickly come up with an excuse, "I think she's just running a bit late."

"Ok," Emma starts to make some rolling motions with her hands, "Roll camera."

Rikki is so relieved that Emma seemed to buy her excuse. _Thank god Cleo has an actual habit of running late. Emma would be so mad if she found out where Cleo actually was. I just hope I can manage to sneak off again._

Cleo is swimming around Mako Island, filming anything that she finds interesting. _This is so fun! I can't wait for Rikki to get here, she is going to love this. _

Cleo knows that she really should be getting some footage of the sharks that seem to be everywhere she looks but she was a little scared to get too close to them. _I haven't seen them really show any interest in us but if one does decide that they want a taste, I doubt that my ability to move water is really going to help me. _

Cleo starts to swim towards the moon pool hoping to get some great shots of the bottom of the pool. She was just about to go back out when she saw Rikki. Cleo points up to the moon pool and Rikki nods her head before following her. They soon reach the surface of the pool, allowing them to talk.

"Did you get any cool shark footage?" Rikki asks excitedly.

"Um, I wouldn't say 'cool' but I did manage to get some from a distance. I figured we could find some use for them. Besides I didn't want you to miss out on all the fun" Cleo smiles at Rikki hoping that she could forgive her.

"Thank you for being so considerate of my feelings," Rikki says sarcastically but the smile on her face shows Cleo that she isn't really that upset.

"Oh come on! I know that you are just dying to film those sharks," Cleo hands Rikki the camera, "Come on, let's go before Emma notices how long we are gone."

Rikki takes the camera from Cleo before they both swim back to the reef. Rikki doesn't hesitate to swim up close to the sharks and start filming. Cleo is still a little hesitant to get too close to them preferring to stay closer to the surface.

Cleo was too busy watching the fish in the reef to notice that one of the sharks seemed to take an interest in her. She had just looked up to see the shark hit something that looked like a surfboard. No. Not a surfboard. _A windsurfer. _

The shark quickly loses interest in her and starts to swim around the person that is now swimming frantically in the water. Cleo can very faintly hear the person shouting for help.

_That's Zane's voice! Oh no, what do I do? It's not like I can swim up there and try to scare the shark away. Maybe I can quickly swim up to Zane, grab him, and then try and out swim the shark._

Cleo knew that neither of those choices could really work. She knew that if she tried to help him the shark would try to attack her or Zane would find out her secret and then she would have Emma and Rikki to deal with. Those two combined were a whole lot scarier than any shark. _Rikki! Maybe Rikki can help._

Cleo quickly swims over to where Rikki is and frantically points up. When they are both on the surface they can instantly hear Zane's cries for help.

"Who is that?" Rikki looks around trying to see if she can spot them.

"Rikki, focus! It's Zane, I don't know what he's doing here but you need to help him. He is surrounded by a shark, if we don't help him he could die." Cleo starts to pull Rikki back down but Rikki resists.

"No way, he'll see our tails."

"Who cares, Rikki! Can't you just, like, make the water around him super hot or something? Maybe that will keep the shark away from him." They can hear Zane's cries getting more desperate. "Please, Rikki! We have to at least try to help him." Cleo begs, "I'm going to try and help him no matter what you decide, I don't care if he sees my tail."

Cleo starts to head back into the water before Rikki responds.

"Alright, I'll try to heat the water around him and see if that works."

"Thank you, Rikki. Now let's go, we don't have a lot of time."

Cleo leads Rikki back to the area where she saw Zane. Cleo taps Rikki and points to the shark that seems to be heading straight towards Zane. Cleo gives Rikki a look that seems to say "_I told you."_

Rikki and Cleo swim directly under Zane. Rikki extends her arm out and quickly makes a circle of boiling water around them. Cleo is worried that the shark would still be able to get through but after a few attempts to pass the scalding water it loses interest and moves on. Cleo is just about to swim up to make sure that Zane is okay when Rikki grabs her arm and starts to pull her away. _Right, I probably shouldn't let Zane see me like this. _

Cleo and Rikki head back to the moon pool.

"That was so scary," Cleo says

"Yeah, what kind of idiot would come to Mako knowing that it's full of sharks."

"Uh, we come to Mako all the time, Rikki," Cleo couldn't help the need to defend Zane.

"But that is different, Cleo. We happen to be mermaids, we can stay underwater for long periods of time, we have special water powers, and we can outswim that shark in a heartbeat. All Zane has is a windsurfer."

"He was probably trying to impress his dad by beating his record." Cleo says remembering the winsurfer that hangs in the cafe.

"That is still a stupid reason to endager his life."

"I think I'm going to head back already," Cleo says abruptly in a sharp tone, "Emma is probably waiting for us."

Cleo doesn't wait for Rikki to respond before she disappears under the moon pool.

"Jeez, why is she mad? It's not like I didn't just save Zane or anything." Rikki says out loud and then rushes to catch up to Cleo.

**Scene starts at the Juicenet cafe**

Cleo couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed at Lewis. She was glad to see that she wasn't the only one.

"You think that's funny?" Rikki angrily asks Lewis.

"Oh, I think the audience is the best, uh, judge, Rikki," Lewis smugly says.

Cleo can feel herself getting angrier at Lewis. _How can he be so smug? Zane almost died and he turned him into a laughing stock._

Cleo gets up to leave before she says something that she will regret. Cleo can faintly hear Rikki tell Lewis that Zane's fear was real and so was the shark he saw. _Good, I hope Lewis feels like a jerk._

Cleo finds a spot outside to sit on a table. She just needed to get away from Lewis and get some fresh air. _Poor, Zane, he really doesn't deserve that. No one does. _

Cleo hears someone walking out of the cafe. She looks up and sees that it's Zane. She watches as he walks out to the docks. _Should I go out and talk to him? _

Cleo thinks back to when Zane was there for her when the whole thing was happening. _I think I owe it to Zane to be there for him. _

Zane stares at the trophy in his hands. _Even the damn trophy looks like it's laughing at me. Maybe I should just chuck it in the sea and try to forget about this whole thing. _

Zane was so deep in thought that he didn't even notice Cleo standing next to him.

"Do you want to talk about it? I promise I won't say anything to anyone, even Emma and Rikki, if they ask." Cleo repeats the exact same thing he told her hoping that it would help him open up.

Zane smiles remembering that conversation.

"You don't have to feel obligated to talk to me, Cleo, I'm fine." Zane lies.

"I don't feel obligated. I want to talk to you. I've been meaning to tell you that I think your windsurfing was so good. Lewis told me that if it wasn't for the shark, you would have easily beaten your dad's record." Cleo couldn't help but feel a little guilty. The shark was really only so close to the surface because of her.

"Yeah, that stupid shark really ruined a lot things." Zane mutters.

"Zane, you know that it's completely normal to be afraid of a shark that's swimming within touching distance from you, right? There is nothing for you to be embarrassed about." Cleo wasn't sure why, but she reached over to grab his hand, she just reacted before thinking.

Zane gives Cleo's hand a squeeze, silently thanking her.

"So you don't think I was acting like Lewis does."

"Zane, I know you well enough to know that you are a horrible actor."

Zane lets out a loud laugh.

"That is true," Zane agrees.

"Do you remember our school play in primary school? No offense, Zane, but you were absolutely awful."

"What do you mean? I was the lead in that play!" Zane protests.

"You were only the lead because your dad literally paid for the entire production."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that part," Zane laughs, removing his hand from her hold to give her a playful shove. She laughs and gives him a shove back. Zane's laugh dies down and he looks back at his trophy.

They both stand there in silence.

"Rikki was surprisingly more upset about the film than I was." Cleo informs Zane.

"Really? That is surprising. I thought that she hated me."

"Well, you didn't hear this from me but Emma swears that she has a small crush on you."

"Me!" Zane exclaims, "I find that hard to believe."

"Why? It is because she is so rude to you. I hate to break it to you, Zane, but I think that's how she shows affection. Come on, you aren't even a little bit interested in her?"

"No thank you, blondes aren't really my type."

"Then what is your type, Zane?"

"Brunettes", he says out loud. _Brunettes! I don't like brunettes, I like blondes! Why did I say that blondes aren't my types! Blondes are totally my type, just look at Miriam._

"I mean, not Rikki, that's for sure. Not to be rude to your friend or anything but I just don't see as working out. We are both so, so," Zane struggles to find the words.

"Stubborn, hot-headed, you both also have loud personalities," Cleo adds.

"Exactly, we just have too much in common. I want someone to balance me out."

"Balance you out? What kind of person would balance you out?" Cleo asks with a smile.

"I don't know, someone who doesn't have a mean bone in their body. Someone who can always see the good in people no matter what. Someone who I know will always have my back, you know, loyal, kind…" Zane trails off. He couldn't help but notice that all those traits have been used to describe Cleo before. _Cleo is the last person I would ever consider dating. So why is she the perfect dream girl that I'm describing? No, there is no way. Cleo and I would never work out, ever. _

"Anyway, thanks for trying to cheer me up. I know you'll say anything to make me feel better. I just feel like such a loser. I really wanted to show my dad that I was a winner too, just like him. I thought that if I broke his record then maybe he would finally respect me."

Cleo was a little shocked to hear Zane be so vulnerable for once. _Wow, Lewis' short film really did a number on him._

"Zane, trust me, you are far from a loser. Someone made a funny video about you, so what, it just goes to show how popular you are. People were only laughing at that video because you were in it and everyone knows who you are. I guarantee you that if Lewis had used anyone else it wouldn't have been nearly as funny."

"Yeah, I missed the part where that was supposed to cheer me up," Zane says sarcastically.

Cleo rolls her eyes.

"I'm trying to tell you that you aren't a loser, Zane. No one in there could tell that you weren't acting. You are just as popular and handsome and manly as you were before all of this."

"Do you really think that I'm handsome and manly?" Zane looks over at Cleo.

Cleo looks up at Zane. _Of course that's the part of the conversation that he heard. He is so full of himself. _Cleo noticed that at some point they had turned to face each other and they were now standing pretty close to each other.

"Oh, Zane, you know that you are handsome, everyone thinks that," Cleo quickly tells him.

"Yes, but do you think that?" Zane takes a closer step to Cleo.

Cleo sees Zane's eyes dart down to her lips and he starts to slowly lean down. _Is he going to kiss me?! Right now! What do I do? I can't kiss Zane. One, I think Rikki likes him, and two he is so vulnerable right now he would kiss anyone. I can't take advantage of poor Zane when he is at his lowest point. Not that I would even want to kiss Zane in the first place. Quick, Cleo, think of something. _

"I should head back," Cleo takes a step away from Zane, "I don't feel comfortable leaving Rikki alone with Lewis for so long, she might strangle him," Cleo looks back to see Emma, Rikki, and Lewis are coming out of the cafe. _Perfect timing, guys. _Even from a distance, Zane and Cleo can see Rikki's angry face as she makes angry motions with her hands towards Lewis.

"Don't let them know how much that film actually bothered me. Please," Zane looked back at Cleo. He didn't make any attempt at kissing her again and Cleo was glad. She didn't know what she would do if he tried to kiss her again with her friends being within seeing distance from them.

"Of course, Zane. I'll tell Lewis that you thought it was hilarious," Cleo tells Zane in a serious voice.

"Alright, that might be overexaggerating a bit, just say that I'm happy about the trophy and leave it at that."

"How about this? If they ask me, I'll say that you think Lewis did a great job with the footage he had,"

"Sounds good to me. Thanks again, Cleo, really. Now go, before Rikki actually starts strangling Lewis." Zane motions back to where Cleo's friends are standing. _Go, before I try and kiss you again and get rejected. God, how embarrassing. _

Cleo laughs and starts to walk back towards her friends before she turns around and walks back to him. She places both hands on his chest and leans up on her tiptoes gives him a quick peck on the corner of his mouth. Almost like she was aiming for his cheek but missed. She then puts her arms around him and gives him a hug.

"You are not a loser, Zane," Cleo whispers in his ear.

Zane feels his eyes start to tear up but he manages to get himself together before Cleo pulls away.

"And I also think that you are the most handsome boy that I have ever met," Cleo gives Zane a quick smile before turning around and walking back to her friends, leaving Zane alone in the docks.

Zane looks back down at the trophy in his hands. _I still think I should just chuck in the ocean. _Zane was getting ready to throw the trophy in the ocean except, he couldn't help but be reminded of Cleo when he looked at his trophy. The warmth of her hands on his chest. The way her arms felt around him. The feel of her soft lips. The way she looked in the moonlight. Suddenly the idea of keeping the trophy didn't seem so bad after all.

**I was going to post this chapter earlier today but I decided to make some last minute changes to the ending of it. I also decided to go ahead and skip episode 9. I didn't really want to forcefully add Zane into that episode, instead I focused on the next episode. I know that some of you are dying to see Cleo and Zane kiss, and I just want to say that a kiss is in the works for them. Maybe in the next chapter or two, I guess you'll just have to wait and see!**


End file.
